[IB Publisher's note: It appears the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is working against Hawaiian sovereignty through the process of holding a "Native Hawaiian Constitutional Convention" that will deliver the Hawaiian people with the proper "blood quantum" as "American Indians". And you know how that worked out.]

Image above: In Hawaii the American flag flies over the Hawaii State flag that was once the flag of the Hawaiian Territory that was once the flag of the Hawaiian Nation that was once free and sovereign. From Huffington Post article below.

At 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 28, 2015, in front of Hawaii Hall at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, Native Hawaiian community leader, Walter Ritte will publicly disenroll from the Native Hawaiian Roll and withdraw his candidacy from the Naʻi Aupuni Native Hawaiian election and ʻaha, calling for a boycott of the election.

Joined by the Royal Order of Kamehameha, community leaders and academics, Ritte will read a statement explaining why he is now removing his name from the Native Hawaiian Roll and withdrawing his candidacy for the election.

“Four fifths of all Native Hawaiians in Hawaiʻi and abroad are excluded from this election. I cannot participate in a process that is not pono, and have decided to remove my name from consideration to be a delegate in the ‘aha. We need to be steadfast and remain on the path that our kūpuna have laid because we are still a sovereign and independent state” stated Ritte.

This statement comes just days prior to the beginning of the election, which will produce the final delegates for next Spring’s Native Hawaiian constitutional convention. The election is to take place from November 1 - 30, 2015.

Hawaiʻi Hall is located at Varney Circle next to the Queen Liliʻuokalani Center for Student Services. Parking is available for purchase in green marked stalls in Varney Circle or at the parking adjacent to the Center for Hawaiian Studies on Dole street, from where shuttles run regularly to Varney Circle.

Native Hawaiians have not had a formal government since the Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown in 1893 by a group of American businessmen, with the support of 300 U.S. Marines.

But that may soon change.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of the Interior proposed a framework for the Native Hawaiian community to re-establish a unified government if it wishes, and to decide what relationship it would have with the United States -- if any.

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said in an announcement Tuesday that the proposal is a testament to the Obama administration’s strong support for Native peoples’ right to self-determination.

"The United States has a long-standing policy of supporting self-governance for Native peoples," she said. "Yet the benefits of the government-to-government relationship have long been denied to Native Hawaiians, one of our nation’s largest indigenous communities."

Tuesday's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking comes more than a year after the Department of the Interior held a series of public meetings across the state on the topic. For the most part, the meetings were dominated by Native Hawaiians who opposed federal recognition, saying it would do nothing to right the wrongs of history, particularly the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy.

“We’ve listened to the feedback we received during the public meetings and in writing and worked to improve the proposal to reflect those comments,” Jewell said Tuesday.

The DOI stressed that under the new proposal, the Native Hawaiian community, not the federal government, would decide whether to reorganize a Native Hawaiian government. It would also decide what form that government would take, and whether it would seek a government-to-government relationship with the United States.

The DOI says such a relationship could provide the community with greater flexibility to preserve its distinct culture and traditions, as well as special status under federal law to exercise powers of self-government over many issues that directly affect the community.

For members of Hawaii's congressional delegation, the proposal came as welcome news.

“Native Hawaiians have the right to reorganize a government that they determine is best for them,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said in a statement Tuesday. “With today’s publication of proposed rules from the Department of the Interior, I urge Native Hawaiians and other interested individuals to stay engaged and to contribute their comments and concerns as the process moves forward.”

“The Native Hawaiian community’s ongoing work toward self-determination takes a significant step forward today, and I applaud the Obama administration for its commitment to this effort," Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) said in a statement Tuesday.

Tuesday's announcement, which kicked off a 90-day public comment period, comes in the midst of a unique election process in which Native Hawaiians will select delegates to represent them at a constitutional convention, where they could possibly come up with a recommended form of government that would then face a vote.

Today, the Plaintiffs in Akina v. State of Hawaii filed an appeal from the Order of Judge Michael Seabright denying their motion to halt a race-based election to establish a Hawaiian tribe in violation of the Constitution. On Friday, Judge Seabright announced his ruling against the Plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction. Though Judge Seabright has not yet issued his written opinion, the fact that the election process is ongoing persuaded the Plaintiffs of the importance of an immediate appeal.

“We feel confident that the appellate courts will stop a racially-divisive state-sponsored election which tramples on constitutional rights,” said former Hawaii Attorney General Michael A. Lilly who, along with Bob Popper and other attorneys at Judicial Watch, represents the Plaintiffs.

"Every day that this unconstitutional election is allowed to proceed is another day that Native Hawaiians are misled, people's rights are bypassed, and the will of the thousands of Hawaiians who have voiced their opposition to the state's nation-building scheme are ignored," said Kelii Akina, Ph.D., President of the Grassroot Institute and one of the Plaintiffs in the case.

"We must stop wasting time, money, and good will on a divisive and unconstitutional race-based election and begin looking for ways to improve the lives of everyone who lives in our state."

Speaking as a Plaintiff, Dr. Akina continued: "We believe that the ruling against our preliminary injunction was the wrong decision. The law is clear on the issues in this case, and we are certain that an appeal to a higher court will demonstrate that this election is harmful to Native Hawaiians and our constitutional principles."

The Hawaiian Studies program at the University of Hawaii Maui College sponsors a community meeting on Oct. 29, in opposition to the Naʻi Aupuni group, which was established to create a path toward Hawaiian self-determination.

Perez said it is important that the public understand the impacts, implications, risks and take a critical analysis of the process. In a video of the meeting he said the discussion is not about trying to argue the merits of participation in Naʻi Aupuni or re-hasing Hawaiian history.

“Most of us believe that we will not be able to control this process and so we are very concerned about it… We want to get into the meat of understanding Naʻi Aupuni; how it’s going to work; what the potential implications are; and also understanding how has it violated principles of self determination. The highest standards of human rights have not been met. That is our belief and that is why we are holding this hālāwai (meeting),” said Perez during the Oʻahu meeting.
The Maui meeting, entitled “Protest Naʻi Aupuni. Choose Aloha ʻĀina,” will include information and strategy discussion. The Protest Naʻi Aupuni website expresses opposition to the group with material that reads, “Hawaiian Sovereignty is not for sale.”

The site urges signatures for an online petition that was drafted with the following assertion: “I am an indigenous/aboriginal Hawaiian. I did not give my free, prior, informed consent to be on the Kanaʻiolowalu Rolls and protest Naʻi Aupuni which is the Office of Hawaiian Affairsʻ/State of Hawaiʻiʻs attempt to relinquish my peoplesʻ cultural and political rights to sovereignty over our national lands and our human right to self-determination.”

The petition, which went live on Sept. 13, is seeking 5,000 signatures and had garnered 367 signatures by Friday afternoon, Oct. 23, 2015.

The upcoming Maui meeting runs from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, at the UHMC Pilina Building.

List of OHA Candidates

SUBHEAD: List of candidates released for Native Hawaiian constitutional convention.

Some 209 candidates will vie for 40 delegate positions across the islands for the Native Hawaiian 'aha constitutional convention.

Kuhio Asam, president of Na'i Aupuni, which is in charge of running the November election and subsequent Native Hawaiian convention and ratification process, said the candidates are "diverse in their age, backgrounds and purpose. They are representative of a good cross-section of the Native Hawaiian community."

The list of candidates was released today by Election-America, a private national company hired by the independent group Na'i Aupuni to conduct the election.

The delegates will be elected to represent Native Hawaiians who live in and out of Hawaii. They will meet next year at a constitutional convention to work on forming a Native Hawaiian government.

The election breakdown by area is: On Oahu, 110 candidates will vie for 20 delegate positions; Hawaii island, 32 candidates for 7 slots; Maui, 15 contenders for 3 positions; Kauai and Niihau, five hopefuls for two spots; Molokai and Lanai, four candidates for one position; and out of state, 43 contenders for seven slots.